Immortal Light: Wide Awake (49 page)

As she closed her eyes, she heard them once
again advancing, and in the end, she couldn’t do anything but give
in to the darkness.

Chapter
22

From a deep corridor, it seemed,
Lucy could hear her own name being called. Everything was black,
and she knew she was dead. It didn’t hurt, and it was peaceful. She
could see light; it was dim, but it was what she had always heard
death would be. She had always felt the “light at the end of the
tunnel” was a little cliché, yet there it was.

As the light got brighter,
she could smell the salty spray of the ocean and the beach.
Blinking, she was blinded by the bright blue sky fading slowly into
an orange sunset over the horizon. It was the bay. She found it
serendipitous that her own personal paradise was what she had
created for her
haven
.

Sitting up, she saw that everything was the
same. She turned around, half expecting to see her parents waiting
for her in their beach chairs, her mother doing crosswords and her
father napping in his sunglasses and Lakers cap, but there was no
one.

Standing up, she looked down and saw that she
was wearing different clothes: a light blue button-front shirt
tucked into low-rise jeans. Her sword hung firmly at her side.
Touching it, she thought it odd that even her sword was in Paradise
with her; but then, what did she know about Paradise?

There wasn’t much left to
think about. When faced with the reality of death, nothing else
really seemed to matter. Whatever was left behind became someone
else’s problem, and the cares of mortality were nothing more than a
footnote in a brief and painful part of existence. But then there
was her mother to think about. Her mother was also dead. Lucy
longed to see her mother, to know that somehow, someway, she had
been set free of the reaper that had consumed her
light
. Lucy hoped that
he was somehow burned, and then she didn’t need to hope anymore.
From down the bay she saw a person walking toward her, and she
didn’t need to look very long to see who it was.

Laura wore a long, silver dress. It was the
same one she had worn on her last anniversary. Lucy remembered it
so clearly because she had helped her get ready that
night.

Recognizing her mother, Lucy ran toward her
filled with joy. But, as she ran, she realized it was useless, so
she stopped. It wasn’t as frustrating to her as it had been. For
some cosmic reason, she was unable to reach certain people, even in
paradise. Walking slowly toward her mother, she got close enough
that the two could easily see each other’s face, and her mother
wore the grandest smile. Lucy smiled back.

As they stared at each other, Lucy knew that
her mother had been freed, and that being able to see her one last
time was a gift. Suddenly, all the sadness associated with her
mother’s death washed away like pebbles on the beach. Laura was
free, and Lucy was free of the guilt that she had somehow caused
her death.

Waving down the beach, she watched her mother
speak, and on the wind she heard her voice.

I love you, my darling Lucy.
I am so proud of you. Be strong and carry on. I love you, I love
you, I love you.

As the last syllable faded into the air, so
did Laura.

Lucy’s heart was filled with
joy, realizing that she had managed to save her mother’s
light
before dying
herself. She raised her head to the sun and spread her arms wide to
soak in all of the miraculous feelings she was experiencing when,
from behind her, she heard a sound like footsteps in the wet sand.
Turning around, she was face to face with someone she hadn’t
expected to see.

“
Benjamin,” she said in a
delighted tone. “My mother, she’s free. I just saw her.”

“
I know,” he replied with his
signature smile.

Then, Lucy was brought out of her daze.
“Benjamin, are you dead, too?”

He smiled widely and laughed looking down as
the surf covered his bare feet. He wasn’t wearing his usual black
jacket and jeans. He had on a white button-down shirt with the
sleeves rolled up to the elbows and a pair of cargo shorts just as
he had the first time she had ever seen him.

“
No, I’m not dead.”

“
Then, why are you here? Isn’t
this Paradise?”

“
It’s nice, but I wouldn’t call it
Paradise.” He still smiled hugely.

Lucy was confused. “But,
this can’t be my
haven
. I’m dead. We were three hours from you and there’s no way
you could have known …
”

She stopped as he reached into his cargo
pocket. Opening his hand, he was holding a golden cube that Lucy
knew well.

“
You dropped this in the
library.”

Lucy’s mouth dropped open as
she reached for her totem. “But I—
”

“
It turns out
that it goes both ways. Not only can you come into my
haven
uninvited and
access my knowledge through my swords, but I can do the same thing
with you. You didn’t even have to invite me here. I’m here because
I wanted to be.”

It was all coming at her so quickly, and she
was still trying to accept the idea that she might not actually be
dead.

“
What you did in that motel was
amazing. I can’t say I would have been able to do the same, and,
no, you’re not dead. As it turns out, Jack’s a pretty decent
driver, even at nearly a hundred miles per hour on winding
roads.”

“
But … I mean …
we were dead. They were …
”
She thought of Kenny and how he had sacrificed
himself for her.
“
We were next.
”

“
I’ll give you that, but we got
there just in time. Kat wasn’t nearly as bad off as
you.”

“
The reaper that took my mother,
you must have burned him. Did you burn the rest of them,
too?”

“
All of them,
even Sukabra. Any
light
they had consumed was set
free.”

Lucy sighed in relief at his words. “Then
where am I now?”

Benjamin looked around, “I thought that was
pretty obvious.”

Lucy punched him on the
chest as he reeled backwards in laughter. “Well, you slept all the
way home and when you woke up, you still weren’t really awake. Kat
had to help you shower and get dressed, and then you collapsed
again. So right now, you’re lying on Peter’s favorite couch—which
he
’
s not too
thrilled about—with your head propped up on a
pillow.
”

Lucy walked slowly over to him, her feet
depressing the sand between her toes. “And, uh, where are
you?”

He reached out and wrapped his arm around her
waist as she got closer. “I’m sitting right next to you, hoping
that you’ll wake up soon.”

Lucy looked softly into his brilliant emerald
eyes. “And why are you hoping I wake up soon?”

“
Well,” he
rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, “I was sort of hoping that
maybe we could …
”
Before he could say the words, Lucy stepped into him and
placed her lips gently against his. Bridging the gap between
her
haven
and the
real world, she felt the smooth leather couch beneath her as the
sand of the beach washed away, but the feel of Benjamin’s lips
existed on both planes. It felt so much better in
reality.

***

It was Christmas morning, and Lucy held her
father’s hand as she had done every day since he had been forced
into his own personal prison. There had always been the hope that
killing the reaper who had taken him would somehow bring him back,
or, at the very least, set him free the way her mother had been set
free. But, his state seemed no different.

“
Merry
Christmas, Daddy. I’ll be back tomorrow.” Her words were laced with
sadness. There was so much to be grateful for, but the sight of her
father still in his bed was a dark cloud on an otherwise
celebratory time. It wasn’t fair that he had to suffer, and that
there was no freedom for his
light
, regardless of what she and
Benjamin and his brothers had done.

As she turned back around at the door, she
admired the colorful Christmas decorations put up by the only other
man in the county that would adorn a green tree in purple and gold.
Jack was the best friend James Higgins had ever had, and their
entire relationship consisted of a bag of saltwater taffy and a box
of fish and chips.

Blowing a kiss, she left the
room and hoped, as she hoped every day, that when she arrived the
next morning, she would be greeted with a cheerful smile and an
enthusiastic
Hey there, Goosey
from the only family she had
left.

***

Lucy’s mouth hung open. The
contents of the long slender box she held were beyond anything she
could ever have dreamed possible. Staring up at her, sparkling
under the white lights of the Raven’s magnificently decorated
Christmas tree, in all of its rich and perfect detail was her
sword. It wasn’t the practice sword, but
her
sword, the sword from her
haven
. She had seen
Benjamin at the drafting table designing it, but she thought
absolutely nothing of it until the moment she tore the silver paper
off the box and lifted the lid. The hilt was gold inlaid with a
darker metal that gave it a barber-pole appearance. The guard
curved around at the ends like a vine. Etched into the flared,
double-edge blade were the exact same meticulous lines that looked
like waves crashing into vines.

Accompanying the sword was a black leather
scabbard intricately decorated with vines and leaves.

“
It’ll strap to any belt or you
can use the one in the box,” Jack explained, trying not to look too
proud of himself.

Lucy hadn’t noticed the black belt decorated
to match the scabbard.

Standing, she walked over to Jack, who was
sitting in a leather chair facing the tree. She gripped him around
the neck and squeezed as hard as she could.

“
Thank you, Jack. I love it, it’s
perfect.”

“
Hey, I just pounded it out.
Benjamin insisted on doing all the hard stuff.” He peaked around
Lucy to where Benjamin sat. In a whisper, he continued, “But, I
think I could have done a better job.” He winked at her and the two
shared a laugh.

Benjamin, finishing his duty of putting the
used wrapping paper into the fireplace looked curiously at the two
of them.

“
Why do I get the feeling I’m
being talked about over there?”

“
Because you are being talked
about over here,” Lucy retorted, then rose to meet him in the
middle of the room. Holding the sword and scabbard with one hand
she held it up to Benjamin and shook her head with a look of
disbelief and sheer gratitude. As she approached him, she felt a
tear form in the corner of her eye.

“
Thank you,” she said, smiling
through more tears. “I absolutely love it.”

Benjamin just smiled at her
as the two slowly got closer. Lucy felt a familiar urge that she
had always wanted to act upon, but wasn’t able to before, not the
way she wanted. But, in the days since she had awakened in
her
haven
, she
learned that she no longer had to control the urge, and in one
swift motion she wrapped Benjamin around the neck and kissed him.
It was a sensation that she was getting used to. Each time they
kissed she felt an explosion of
light
ignite between them and she
knew without the slightest hint of a doubt that she and Benjamin
were somehow meant to be together, whether by design or by
chance.

Kat’s tinkling voice broke the moment, “Oh my
gosh, Lucy; get a room, will yah?”

Benjamin laughed, and the kiss was all but
ruined. Lucy separated herself from his warm embrace, and in one of
his rare moments, Benjamin actually looked a little
embarrassed.

“
Well, why don’t you try it on for
size?” he said to break the awkwardness.

Handing the sword to him, she strung the belt
through the scabbard and wrapped it around her. It fit perfectly.
Taking the sword back, she hung it into place at her side. The belt
rested snugly at the top of the low waistline of her jeans and she
turned in slow circles for all to see.

Applause broke out from the other
four people in the room, and Lucy loved how it felt so much a part
of her, hanging at her side. Looking down at her new weapon, a
thing she never imagined she would see in reality, she noticed
something else engraved into the pommel. It was the image of a tree
crossed with a sword.

Lucy looked up at Benjamin in
disbelief. “Is this my …”

Benjamin nodded his head. “Yes,
that is actually your totem. Since you felt the instinct to take it
with you when you needed protection, we knew you had bonded with it
enough for it to understand what your sword must be like. So, Jack
started the process, and before long, it became part of your
sword.”